News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
The Cookeville Planning Department recently submitted an offer for a special census to be conducted in the city.
However, City Manager Mike Davidson said it’s unlikely to happen with the 2020 census only two years away.
Planning Director James Mills said a special census would benefit the city by bringing in additional state shared revenue. However, census statistics may be hard to come by.
“Murfreesboro recently completed a special census and they saw [an increase of] several thousand people,” Mills said, “but they also told us that they had difficulty getting a lot of people to participate.”
Mills said people in Murfreesboro had concerns over privacy and government interference through the census.
“Nowadays there seems to be a lot of concern about giving up personal information and concern about government intrusion,” Mills said. “So they did see a significant amount of people who refused to participate.”
Mills said the cost of a special census is hard to calculate, but estimated it could be around $50,000 to complete. Postage costs, paying police and fire departments, and having an online option could play a factor in the overall cost.
